The Widow's Apprentice
by Imadifferentkindofevil
Summary: 4 years after the battle in NY 6 kids were taken from their parents. A special genealogical code was inserted in each of them to give each of them the skills of one of the Avengers. 6 years later they are summoned and start training under the Avengers. This book circles Larissa This is Book 1 of the Avengers Apprentice series. This is basically based off the Marvel Movies/Comics.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**December 31, 2016**

"Director, are you sure this is a good idea?" A tall woman asked as she followed a dark man.

"If it wasn't a good idea we wouldn't be doing this, Agent Hill." The man responded as he kept up his quick pace.

"And the Avengers. In 6 years they will be ready for this?" Asked Agent Hill.

"They'll have to be. They've helped us greatly these past years, but one day they wont be here, and we'll need someone to take over for them." Which was the dark male's response.

"Director Fury, how will these parents kids react when they find out that their children will be taken from them in a few years time?" She asked.

"Agent Coulson has worked all of that out," Director Nick Fury replied.

"And the Council? What have they said about all of this?" Hill interrogated.

"What the Council doesn't know cant hurt them." Fury told her.

Maria raised an eyebrow and stopped walking. "The Council doesn't know about this?"

"No. They do not. You saw how they were back with all that Loki business. They've learned to keep their distance." He responded. "Now, you best catch up with Agent Coulson. He will need help delivering the kids back to their houses."

"And the parents don't mind that you just stole—"

Coulson walked up to the two from behind and interrupted "Borrowed."

"Their kids to insert them with the genes of the Avengers?" She continued.

"Well, actually. We inserted them with a specialized genealogical pattern. The pattern would appear in the kids as time went by, making each of them a specialized unit to work with one of the Avengers." Coulson corrected. "And we didn't tell the parents. This is Shield. We have the ability to claim things we need from public places."

"Children aren't units, and nor are they things, and houses are not public places." Maria pointed out.

"We still have legal rights to the children, Agent Hill." Director Fury told her.

"I never said we didn't." She stated, defensively.

"Agent Coulson, Agent Hill, please go bring the children back to their homes now. Before any of the Avengers finds these kids." Fury ordered.

At that Coulson and Agent Hill left to room together, and all that fury could hear as they were leaving was the faint sound of Tony Stark singing "Hill and Coulson sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" in the other room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**December 31, 2022**

"Larissa Kirillova you are under arrest for have the right to remain silent; anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights as they have been read to you?" A policeman asked as he handcuffed a young redhead.

"Yes," She growled at the cop. He then shoved her in the backseat of the police car. The cop then buckled her in and then sat down in his own seat up front and started driving.

After a few minuets of the drive the cop finally opened his mouth to say something. He is a buff man with sandy blonde hair. "You need to stop doing things like this," He said. "This is the fifth time this year. If you're going to keep doing this, why do you keep letting yourself get caught?"

"You've seen my home. You've seen my parents." She paused. "Officer Carson, you need to understand that my home is just…my life is just…screwed up."

"I can't let you go again. This is the fifth time." He said.

"Ugh!" She groaned. Larissa took a deep breath then spoke. "What part of 'I want to be thrown in juvy' don't you understand?" She rolled her eyes.

"Why?" He asked.

"I'd rather be in juvy than be home. At least at jail I get fed, and have a place to sleep, and um…what's the word…have a roof over my head." Larissa told him.

"Well. Here we are. When we get in we're calling your parents." He said.

"Parent." She corrected.

He brought her in to the station and put her in a holding cell and took the handcuffs off of her. Without saying a word he went to the phone and called her mother. Larissa sat in the cell with her head back against the wall, rubbing her wrists to restart blood circulation in them from the tightness of the cuffs.

A few minuets later Officer Carson reentered the room. "Well you got your wish. Your mom refuses to come get you. Your staying here until someone comes for you."

"Wait…she's not coming?" She asked, shooting her head into its upright position. "What the hell is she doing that she wont come?"

"I don't know, but she's not coming." He replied.

Larissa was shocked. Her mom always came. Even though she didn't want her to come she was shocked that she wouldn't come. After about ten minuets a partially bald man walked in. He looked at the cop and held up a badge.

"I'm Agent Phil Coulson of SHIELD. I'm here to take custody of Larissa Kirillova." He said. Larissa looked at the man in shock.

Officer Carson gave him a look. "I'm sorry?"

"Wait…Shield? As in Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division?" She asked, her eyes widening.

"Yes." Coulson responded.

"Wait, this girl is a felon. You can't just walk in here, hold up a badge, and take custody of a minor without her parent's consent." The cop said.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be. We can take her by federal law." Agent Coulson said.

"Fine. Okay." He said and grabbed a pair of handcuffs.

"We don't need her handcuffed." Coulson said. The cop nodded and put down the cuffs. He unlocked the holding cell and let her out. Larissa walked out of the cell making unbroken eye contact with Agent Coulson.

Coulson led her out of the building and into the backseat of his black mini van. Larissa buckled herself in and smelled the new car smell. Coulson got into the drivers seat and started to drive. "You've heard of us," He said.

"Well…you're Shield. Well…You, Nick Fury, and well all the others…and the Avengers. Its pretty much all the kids at my school talk about." Larissa responded.

"Yes, well, after the events in New York, we're a bit common." He said.

Larissa suddenly became skeptical. "Wait…what does Shield want with me?"

"We'll debrief you along with the others when we get back to Headquarters." He said.

"I'm sorry…wait…what?" She asked, confused.

"We will debrief you on all of this when we get back to Headquarters." He replied. Larissa took a deep breath.

The two were silent for a long time. The silence was awkward but Larissa wouldn't talk anymore, as Coulson was clearly not up to giving any answers. After about an hour they finally arrived at Headquarters.

"Whoa," She breathed when she saw it. Larissa thought she was going to faint. Soon it was time to get out. Larissa's eyes scanned around the entire area, trying to take in what she was seeing. Coulson led her into the large building and then led her into a conference room. Inside were 5 other kids. She sat down next to the one other girl. She had blonde hair and an annoyed look on her face.

"Coulson!" One of the boys yelled. He had dark brown hair, a smooth jawline and chocolate brown eyes. "Will you tell us what the hell we are here for now?" He slammed his fist on the table making two of the other boys jump.

Coulson paid no attention to this remark and sat down at the head of the table. "Now, I've gotten questions from all of you about why you are here and I will now answer that question. Each of you, 6 years ago today was taken. You were each induced with a special genealogical code. You all know about the Avengers, yes?"

Everyone nodded in response to Coulson's question.

"Good. Well, we had made a genealogical code that had each of the Avenger's genes in it. Each one had a gene of one of the Avengers that would be the strongest, making that person be like the Avenger who's genes came out the strongest in that code. Each of you has that in you. Each of you has a strong gene code that makes you strongly like one of the Avengers. The Avenger you are most like is the Avenger you will be training under." He finished.

Everyone was silent for a minuet, taking in what he had said until one blonde boy spoke up. "Wait…I'm sorry, but…Training under the Avengers? One of them is a god. One of them is a super soldier. One of them has had a version of the super soldier serum in them, one has a suit of Iron, and one is a _Hulk."_ The kid stated. "They have abilities that we don't! We're not Super! We don't have powers or anything like that!" He said.

Coulson remained calm. "You have the genealogical code much like theirs. You may notice that you happen to have the strength of Thor." He said.

"What?" The kid asked.

"You're the apprentice of Thor. You might notice you come close to him in many ways, ways that aren't normal." He said. The blonde's eye's opened wide but he didn't say anything. "Now, I have to go gather them all. You remain here and talk amongst yourselves." He said then got up and left the room without another word. The room was silent for a minuet before the next word was spoken.

"What just happened?" Another boy asked. He looked the youngest of the boys. He had a head of think brown hair that swept to the side.

"Apparently we're now each an apprentice of a certain Avenger…" Larissa blinked.

"How is this possible?" The girl next to Larissa asked.

"I don't know," The brown haired boy who had the previous outburst at Coulson. "Well…let's introduce ourselves so we at least know what to call each other. I'm Luka."

The boy next to him spoke next. "I'm Jimmy," He said. It was the first thing he had said.

"I'm Doran," The blonde one said, who was apparently the apprentice of Thor.

"I'm Kurt," The young brunette said.

"I'm Jessica," The blonde next to Larissa said.

"I'm Larissa," Larissa said, when it was finally her turn to introduce herself. She was the last one. "So…wait. Can we just take a moment to think about this: two of these people used to be evil. I'm sure we all know the story of those two."

"Of course," Luka said.

"I know about the Avengers, but I don't know any their backstories…well I don't know Black Widow or Hawkeyes. It's pretty hard not to know Captain America's, or Thor's, or Iron Man's. " Jimmy said.

"Well…Where to start?" Kurt wondered, aloud.

"Well, there is Black Widow. She used to be evil. Trained since she was little. She finally turned good after a while and now she works for Shield. She's a master assassin. Her and Hawkeye are both master assassins. Hawkeye used to be evil but he turned good far before Black Widow. They used to work together when they were evil. Hawkeye was even sent to kill her by Shield, but he didn't kill her for some reason. As for The Hulk, well…he tried to remake the Super Soldier Serum by using Gamma Radiation but…it didn't really…work for him. Unless you say that it 'working' makes him turn into a giant green rage monster." Luka replied.

"Well then…" Jimmy said.

"Yeah." Luka said. Suddenly Coulson reentered the conference room.

"Kirillova, come outside. Time for you to meet Agent Romanoff." He said. Larissa got up from her seat. She didn't know any of the Avengers' last names, except for Iron Man or Tony Stark, Thor's, and Captain America or Steve Rogers. Larissa realized that who she was about to meet outside would be one of the two master assassins. She swallowed and followed Coulson out the door. Once they got outside she found herself face-to-face with Natasha Romanoff, also known as The Black Widow.

Larissa's heart was racing. Here she was, face to face with a notorious master assassin, and she would be training under her. Larissa clenched her teeth together. She had to admit she was scared, if not terrified, but she refused to let herself show it. Natasha was staring at Coulson with a death glare. She lowered her gaze to Larissa who froze in fear, and paused her breathing. Agent Romanoff then looked back at Coulson. Larissa couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with her. Larissa thought if she did, she would literally die of fear.

"Agent Romanoff, this is Larissa Kirillova. She is your apprentice. Take her wherever you like to get to know her. That is an order." Agent Coulson commanded. Agent Romanoff nodded and beckoned for Larissa to follow her once she started walking. Larissa followed, shaking.

"Wait," She told herself in her head. "Why are you scared? She works for Shield. She can't harm you. She's not going to harm you. She can't, can she? Just take a deep breath and calm yourself. She can sense fear. She can sense everything your feeling. Since your going to be training under her you want to be the best you can, right? You want to be worthy. So prove to her you are worthy to train under her."

Larissa felt a bit more confident after her self-encouragement speech her mind gave her. The two arrived at a door that read "Training Room B". "Oh great," Larissa thought. "She's going to get to know me in a training room." Taking another deep breath she followed Natasha into the room. "Wait…is she nervous? She works in training rooms a lot. Maybe she feels less nervous if we're in here. Wait…NO. The Black Widow doesn't get nervous…does she?" She wondered. The two sat down on one of the weight lifting benches.

"Hi," Larissa peeped. Her voice quivered a bit when she spoke, but it was barely even noticeable.

"Hello Larissa," She responded, her voice showing no emotion.

Larissa squirmed a bit in on the bench. Natasha was just staring at her showing no hint of what she was thinking or feeling and it made her severely uncomfortable. She was used to being able to tell what people were feeling. Larissa realized that Natasha was completely breaking her guard. This is what she does. She knows she makes people like this. She has practiced it. Mastered it. Larissa finally brought herself to look up and look Natasha in the eyes.

Larissa immediately regretted her decision to look her in the eyes. It was as if those green eyes were piercing into her brain, reading her every thought, and it was freaking Larissa out. However, she refused to let herself look away. She needed to prove to Natasha that she was strong. Larissa's breath shook. There was no doubt in her mind that Natasha knew she was absolutely, utterly terrified.

Larissa realized that she was clutching her wrist so tightly, digging her nails into her skin. She looked down and saw that her nails had broken the skin and blood was pooling. She quickly rubbed the blood off of her and onto her jeans. Nervous habit, for the few times when she was actually nervous. She then looked up a bit at Natasha and saw her looking down. She had seen her wrist. Larissa quickly adjusted herself and put her wrist under her leg. She hated herself for letting Natasha see it. This was NOT the way she wanted Natasha to see her. Natasha would now see her as weak. Larissa looked down at her thighs, not letting herself look back at Natasha in the eyes. She couldn't. The look on Larissa's face was 1/3 embarrassed, 1/3 defeated, and 1/3 looking terrified. She was completely fazed by the feeling of weakness that the pain didn't even affect her.

After taking a moment to regain herself she looked back at Natasha and put on a very small nervous smile. "It's been amazing to meet you, Agent Romanoff. I—" The door opened. "Natasha," Bruce said. "Didn't know you were in here. We'll go somewhere else."

"No, its okay," Romanoff replied. "We were just about to leave anyway." Larissa let out a silent sigh of relief. She had been saved from more terrifying awkwardness, but then it hit her. Natasha said they right about to leave. What were they going to leave to do? Larissa grew very stiff, scared of what was going to or supposed to happen. Natasha stood up and Larissa did the same, quickly covering her bleeding wrist with her free hand, refusing to let anyone see it. It was already enough that Natasha, AKA the Avenger she was most terrified of, had seen it. Larissa followed Natasha out of the room, and as she was leaving she saw the brunette named Kurt, who she figured by the looks of it, was Banner's apprentice.

"Oh, dinner is ready. It's in Conference Room B. Pepper just came by with it. I know a few of the others are eating now." Bruce told her.

Natasha nodded in response and the two headed to Conference Room B. Larissa was thankful to Bruce for telling them this. After a few minuets of awkward silence of walking the two arrived at Conference Room B, where Tony Stark and Clint and Jessica and Luka were. The two other kids were sitting next to their Avenger. Natasha took a seat next to Clint, or Hawkeye. Larissa knew she should sit next to Natasha, and luckily the seat on her right was open, and on the right of that seat was Luka. He smiled at Larissa as she sat down next to him and Natasha. Tony was on the right of Luka, and on the right of Tony was Pepper. On the left of Natasha was Clint, and on the left of Clint was Jessica.

It was awkwardly silent for a moment as food was passed to Natasha and Larissa. Larissa put two slices of cheese pizza on her plate, and saw Natasha do the same. Pepper finally broke the awkward silence. "Well Phil just told me about everything when I was coming in. I'm Pepper. I'm—"

Tony interrupted. "They know who you are Pepper. You're my wife." He smirked. Pepper rolled her eyes. Natasha and Clint glanced at each other. Luka smiled slightly.

"Well I'm Luka, that's Larissa, and that's Jessica." Luka said, acknowledging each of the girls.

Larissa put on a smile. Natasha got that read on her, a read she didn't want, and she didn't want the others to get the same read. "Hi,"

The dinner went on, as awkward as it was when it started. It got a bit less awkward when Steve, Thor and Bruce and their apprentices went in to eat, too. Coulson came in soon after everyone was done eating and told the Avengers where each of the kids would be living. They would each be living in a room next to their Avenger, except for Luka, because Tony didn't live at Shield with the other Avengers. Larissa was relieved that they got their own room.

Before they all left for their rooms, rooms in which had a bathroom attached, they were told they would be going to see their families for the last time tomorrow. They were told they would go there to pack up clothes and anything else they didn't want to part with. They were told they could also decorate their rooms any way they want since they would be living there for a long time. They were also told they would get to visit their family on Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. They were told they were also allowed to write their family, but they were not allowed to reveal what they were doing or their training. Finally they were brought to their rooms, and told to report to the cafeteria for breakfast at 7:00AM the next morning.

"Goodnight." Natasha said to her.

"Night, Agent Romanoff." She replied as she went into her room and closed the door. The room was stone and windowless, along with a cot with a thin blanket and a hard pillow. She smiled and took a deep breath. She was alone and could finally collect her thoughts. Larissa looked around and found the door to the bathroom. Once inside she picked up a washcloth and ran it under warm water and then cleaned her cuts.

"You need to find a way to get rid of this awkwardness with her. Your going to be training under her for a while you're going to need to find a way to break this. It's up to you." She told herself. "During training. When you start training you need to do your best to prove what you can do."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**January 1, 2023**

Larissa woke up at 6:45. She rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed. She was still in the previous day's outfit, as she didn't have anything else to change into. She hadn't slept well that night. The nightmare came back to her. It was Natasha. She had been killing. Being the evil woman she is. "No, was. Natasha isn't evil anymore." She told herself. "God… I really need to stop talking to myself," She realized. Larissa smiled and went to the bathroom to freshen up for breakfast. Five minuets later she was out and ready, yet she was faced with a new challenge: Get to the Cafeteria, wherever that is. They hadn't told her where it was. Sighing, she realized she would have to make a choice: She could knock on Natasha's door to see if she was in there and see if they could head down together, or to at least ask for directions, or try to find another one of the apprentices, or wing it and try to find her way around. No. She couldn't ask Agent Romanoff. She couldn't seem weak, and besides, she probably wasn't even in there.

Larissa decided to try to just wing it, and hoped to see a Shield agent or someone who looked nice enough to ask for directions. As she walked she didn't see any of the Avengers or their children. She didn't see any Shield Agents. There want anyone in sight. She checked her watch: 6:55 AM. She had 5 minuets to get to breakfast. "How are there no Shield Agents or anyone for that matter?" She muttered. Larissa kept walking, hoping for someone to be out, for someone, anyone, to appear.

She turned down another hall when she saw someone. She walked a bit faster. She saw that the person was a bit taller than her, and then she saw that it was Luka. "Hey," She said.

He turned and saw her. She ran up to him. "Hey." He replied.

"On the way to breakfast?" She asked.

"Yeah," Luka responded.

"Same. I have no idea where the cafeteria is. Do you?" She asked.

"Yeah. It's just at the end of this hall to the right. Didn't Agent Romanoff tell you?" He questioned.

"No." She replied. "She didn't."

"Maybe she just forgot," He said.

"Yeah, probably." Larissa agreed, though she didn't really believe it.

"So you're her apprentice…wow." Luka said. "So, Larissa, right?"

"Yeah. Larissa." She told him.

"Cool. I tend to forget things in the morning." He laughed.

"Heh." Larissa chortled. "So your Tony Stark's apprentice. How does it feel to share some genes with the billionaire?"

"Honestly, It's creepy. We're a lot alike. It's just…creepy. How about you? How is it sharing some genes with a master assassin?"

"Scary." She stated. "Like really. She is just intimidating. We didn't even really get to talk, it was just honestly her staring me down."

"Yeah, I noticed you were pretty tense at dinner last night." He said.

"Yeah…well…look! The Cafeteria! Let's go in before we're late." Larissa said.

The two walked in and saw the rest of the apprentices eating. Luka and Larissa got in line and got their food. It was pancakes that smelled of cinnamon. When the two got out of line they went to sit with the other apprentices.

"Alright, explain your meeting with your Avenger. Go." Jessica ordered. At first everyone was silent but finally Doran spoke up. "It was weird. Thor was…well…good. He just listened. At first it was really awkward but then it just got easier. I did have to explain some things that they don't have on Asgard or whatever."

Jimmy then spoke up. "Yeah, same with me and Steve. Of course when I talked about some modern things I had to explain them…."

"What were some of the things you had to explain?" Kurt asked.

"Have you ever tried explaining Google? Or a computer for that matter?" He asked. Everyone shook his or her head. "Its like trying to explain what water tastes like. But on the good side I think I just helped him out. Now he can use Google to search everything he missed." Everyone laughed at that remark. "He has got a lot to catch up on,"

"Alright," Jessica said. "How about you Kurt? How was it with Dr. Banner?"

"He was the same as Thor and Steve, I guess, except I didn't have to explain anything. How about you and Tony, Luka?" He asked.

"Well, me and Tony are a lot alike apparently. Except I've never used women the way he has and I don't plan to. I'm also not a billionaire." He said.

"And how was it for you, Larissa?" Jimmy asked.

"Scary. All she really did was stare me down. We didn't even really say anything." Larissa replied. They hadn't known each other for even 12 hours and they were all acting like they were all best friends. Probably because of the situation they were all in. "How about for you Jessica?"

"Well, Hawkeye, Agent Barton, whatever you want to call him…I personally have no idea what to call him, so I've just been avoiding names with him. It started off really quietly. It seemed he was pretty uncomfortable. It got smoother, though. He took me into a training room and I guess I kinda proved myself to him when I shot his bow." She said.

"He let you shoot his bow?" Luka questioned.

"Yeah. I kind of just blurted it out before I even got to think about what I had said. When he agreed to let me shoot it I was in shock. He asked me if I had ever shot one before and I said yes, so." She told them.

"How did you do?"

"I got a bull's-eye each time. I guess I just needed to show him what I could do for him to get comfortable with me. That's probably how you could get Agent Romanoff to light up a bit," She said to Larissa.

"Yeah that's what I was thinking. I just want to go in there and practice before she sees me though. I couldn't afford to mess up." She said. Then put in "Again" under her breath. She had messed up last night and she couldn't let that happen again. Natasha shoveled some pancake into her mouth, taking in the deliciousness.

"Well, at least we get to go home and get our stuff." Luka said.

"And say goodbye to our parents." Kurt put in.

"Yeah…" Larissa rolled her eyes. Her mom wouldn't even care. She wouldn't even say goodbye…and Larissa didn't even care. "Does anyone know what time we get to head home?"

All of the apprentices shook his or her head. "Well…Barton told me that you and I start training tomorrow." Jessica said to Larissa. "Should be fun."

"I don't think training will be that fun, Jess." Larissa replied.

"Oh come on. It will be fun. Natasha will probably give you a chance to show your skills. " She said.

"Maybe," Larissa replied.

"She will want you to succeed. No matter what you think. Besides, if you don't succeed it will look bad on her. So she will do whatever she can to make you succeed. You know that when she sets her mind to something she will do it." Luka put in.

Larissa bit her bottom lip. "Why are you focusing on me right now? Yeah, Agent Romanoff is skeptical of me, but I'm just going to show her what I can do." Larissa put on an emotionless look, so she wouldn't let anyone know what she was thinking.

"Time to go," A voice said coming up to the kids. "We have vans outside waiting for each of you. Your Avenger is already in there." Agent Coulson said. The kids nodded and quickly got up and threw away their stuff. Then they followed Coulson outside and he directed them each to a van. Larissa was led to the van in which would transport her. She got into the back seat with Natasha and sat down. The car started to move as soon as she buckled in.

"How was breakfast?" Natasha asked her.

"Wait...did she just as me a question?" Larissa thought. "It was fine," She said, her voice smooth. She didn't sound too nervous, unlike yesterday.

"I was reading your file last night." Agent Romanoff said.

"Wait. She read my file? Wait…what file?" She wondered. "Shield has a file on me?" She asked.

"Yes, we do." Natasha replied.

"Well, I guess you've gotten to know me then." Larissa said. This was severely awkward. What was in the file? What did Natasha now know about her?

"You've been arrested 5 different times for shoplifting. Why were you letting yourself get caught?" She asked.

"I'm sorry? I don't understand." Larissa replied.

"I can understand getting caught once, but five times. You wanted to get caught. Why?" Natasha responded.

"I guess I am just really bad at shoplifting." Larissa replied. She knew that Romanoff knew that she was hiding something, but she wanted to let Natasha try to get it out of her. She needed to try to figure out her techniques.

"No one would attempt to steal a full grown cat from a pet store unless they wanted to get caught." She said.

"I really wanted a cat. I was willing to go to extreme measures to get one." Larissa said.

Larissa could tell that Nat knew she was lying.

"Tell me your story." Natasha said.

"My story?" Larissa questioned.

"Your life story." She said.

Larissa raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

"Because I want to know," Natasha said.

"Didn't my file tell it all?" She replied, annoyed.

"Files just tell events. They don't tell a story," She explained.

Larissa took a deep breath. "Well…I was born in New York City. My mom got pregnant from a one-night stand. She didn't want to keep me but she didn't want to fill out paperwork to put me up for adoption, and there wasn't anywhere she could dump me without questions asked, so she kept me. She took care of me until I was old enough to cook. That's when she stopped supplying food for me. She drank a lot and did drugs. I tended to try to avoid her.

When I was 10 my mom got married. The guy was abusive but she was so afraid of him leaving her she just dismissed it. He abused both her and me. When I was 12 I found a gun in my mom's closet. It's a .22 Pistol; it had a tight barrel, really nice shot. I found a box of bullets that had enough for 10,00 rounds. So I took them. I didn't think she'd notice, and I don't think she ever has. I used to sneak into the local range and shoot. I watched videos and taught myself how. It was great for getting out anger. That same year I got a package in the mail. Inside of it was a dagger. There wasn't a note or anything. It was just addressed to me. So I started to use it. I got pretty good at it, too.

One day, when I had gotten home from school, Bill, my mom's husband, started to hit my mom and me. He broke her nose and then her leg. I brought myself to take the knife out of my bag and stab him. In my defense it was in self-defense. I got my mom to the hospital, and I had to go to court and all but it was settled that it was in self-defense. My mom hated me for it. I saved her life, though. She should be grateful, but whatever. I couldn't believe I killed him, though. It started to eat me up inside. I had killed someone. What made it so painful was that I meant to. I did get over it after a while. My mom has never forgiven me though.

After that was when I started shoplifting. Time went by of the same routine. I went through school, kept my grades up, and kept practicing with the pistol and the dagger, which is stained from the blood of Bill. No one at school even talks to me. Not even my teachers. They were too scared of me. Well, then when I was arrested for the 5th time, Agent Coulson had come to the station and took me. I was brought to Shield, met the other apprentices, then you, then we ate dinner then you brought me to my room and I fell asleep eventually and then woke up, tried to find my way to breakfast, ran into Luka who is Mr. Stark's apprentice, and he knew the way to breakfast. Then we had breakfast with the rest of the apprentices the Coulson came along and brought us each to the cars and now that's pretty much caught up to present time." Larissa finished. She didn't realize that while she had been telling her story, she had let out some tears. She quickly wiped her eyes and blinked repeatedly. She looked Natasha in the eye, trying to prove she wasn't completely weak. The look on Natasha's face grew a bit soft.

It was silent for a while. Larissa turned her head to her window. The memory of when she had killed Bill came into her head and replayed itself. The sound her mom screaming and him choking in pain were clear in her mind. Larissa tried to force the thought out of her mind. Natasha didn't say anything for a long time. "Do you still have the pistol and the dagger?" She asked.

"I do," Larissa replied.

"Bring 'em. You'll need them." Natasha said.

Larissa nodded.

"While you're packing I'll be talking to your mother about why we are taking you. Pack your clothes and anything else you'll need." She told Larissa.

Larissa nodded again in response.

The silence came again. This time it continued until they arrived at her house. The two got out of the car and knocked on the door. After a minuet Larissa's mother answered the door. It was silent for a moment as Larissa's mother scanned the two. "Is this because of her arrest?" She asked.

"No," Natasha replied. "I'm Agent Natasha Romanoff of the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division. I need to debrief to you about a severely important matter."

Larissa's mother rolled her eyes. "Fine. Come in." She said and led the two into the house. It was messy and smelled of cigarettes. She led the two to the kitchen table. "Now what's this about?"

"Ms. Kirillova, 6 years ago your daughter was induced with a genealogical code." She pulled out a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and slipped it across the table to Ms. Kirillova. "That should explain everything." Natasha then directed her view to Larissa. "You can go pack," Larissa then headed to her room.

Ms. Kirillova finished reading. "So you're just taking my daughter? Shield is claiming my daughter?" She asked.

"I can understand that this is shocking—" Natasha started.

"Thank you! I can finally have that brat away! Thank you." Her mother said.

That had been all Larissa heard before she closed the door to her room. The room was small. It had a twin size bed, a small closet, a chest, and a desk. She went to her closet and pulled out a suitcase. Larissa laid it on the floor. She unzipped it and smiled at the sight of her pistol and bullets and dagger. It was all neatly secured in one of the pockets of the suitcase. She then went over to her drawers and opened the drawer containing her undergarments and socks. She brought those over to her suitcase and put them in. She did the same with rest of her clothes. She then went back into her closet and emptied it of the rest of her clothes. By this time the suitcase was half full. She was done packing her clothes so she looked around the room, looking for anything else she couldn't part with. She then realized she hadn't packed any of her hairbands or anything so she went to her bathroom and gathered all of her toiletries. She put them in the suitcase and still had room. She stuffed it with bedding, as the bedding at Shield wasn't that comfortable. By this time the suitcase was almost full. She remembered she hadn't added in her stash of her life savings. She went under her bed and pulled out a jar filled to the top with various bills and coins. She put it in the suitcase and finally it was full. She didn't pack any sentiments because she didn't have any. The only thing she had that was close was a pillow from when she was a baby. It was worn out and re-sewn multiple times to cover rips or where the fabric had started to wear out. Larissa studded the pillow into her suitcase.

Larissa zipped up her suitcase and headed back to the kitchen where Natasha and her mother were. When she arrived back in the kitchen she saw her mom with a huge smile on her face. "Wow mom, haven't seen you smile in years…" She said.

"Well your leaving! It's a happy occasion!" She responded. Natasha was standing up, clearly ready to get out of here.

"Well, I'll miss you mom," Larissa said, truthfully.

"Well I wont miss you!" She said.

"Well…I guess we should get going, shouldn't we, Agent Romanoff?" Larissa asked.

"Yes." She replied. "Ms. Kirillova, it's been a pleasure meeting you."

"And a pleasure meeting you!" Ms. Kirillova exclaimed.

At that remark Natasha and Larissa headed out. Once they unloaded the suitcase in the trunk and sat down Larissa spoke. "Well…I guess you've now met my mom," She said uncomfortably. She couldn't tell what Natasha was thinking, she never could. "She's clearly depressed at her loss." Larissa rolled her eyes.

"It will make it easier for you. When you connect with people it can lead to you getting hurt. That's not something you want to get involved with." She said.

Larissa thought about that remark for a moment. She rarely ever let people in, and when she did, it led to her getting hurt. Natasha was right. She couldn't let people in like that anymore. "You're right," She said.

The two once again grew silent. It was a scary, tense silence. It was much less scary to talk to Natasha than for it to be silent. The silence put Larissa on edge. She wanted Natasha to talk; she wanted her to say something, anything. But Natasha didn't say something for a very long time.

"You start training tomorrow. Wear something tight fitting. Loose clothes can catch on things. It can slow you down," She said.

"Noted," Larissa replied. Now she would have to find something tight fitting. She needed something training worthy, something Black Widow worthy.

"Hawkeye will be in the training room, too, with his apprentice." Natasha added. Larissa nodded. It grew silent once again. It stayed silent until they arrived back at Shield. "You can go head to lunch. I'll be in Training Room B if you or anyone else needs me," She said. "After lunch you can do whatever you please."

Larissa nodded once again and got out of the car. She remembered the way to the cafeteria from that morning. When she had gotten into the cafeteria and got her food she started to look around for another one of the apprentices. She soon saw Luka eating at a table alone. She walked over to him.

"Hi, do you mind if I sit here?" She asked.

"Hey! Not at all, go ahead. " He smiled. "So how was your goodbye to your parents?"

"Parent. I lived with my mom, and well…She was happy for me, well happy for herself to be rid of me, no biggie." She replied.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yeah. Whatever. So what about you?" Larissa responded.

"A little emotional. I've never really felt close to my family but they seemed really sad. Tony was pretty good at talking to them. They were pretty shocked to have a billionaire in their house. Know they got his autograph before he left." He told her. Larissa let out a giggle. "So what are you doing after lunch, I see you still have your suitcase."

"Oh, yeah. I guess I'm going to deliver it to my room. After that, I don't know." She replied.

"Do you need any help unpacking?" Luka asked.

"No, I've got it. Thanks, though." She told him.

"Where's Natasha?" He asked.

"Oh, so your on a first name basis now?" Larissa questioned.

"Agent Romanoff felt awkward to say in this context." Luka smiled.

"Well she's in Training Room B, " She told him.

"Didn't you say last night you wanted to practice before you had training tomorrow?" He questioned.

"Yeah," Larissa said.

"Well after your done packing we should go to training room A and you could practice," He said.

Larissa smiled. "I guess I could use some help unpacking…to get it done quicker."

Luka winked at her. "Done eating?" He asked.

"Yeah. Are you?" She replied.

"Yep. Want to head over to your room?"

"Yeah, sure." Larissa said. The two got up and threw away their trash. Luka grabbed her suitcase before she even got the chance. "Thanks," She said.

"No problem," He replied. The two walked in silence to her room. She opened the door and led him in.

"Dobro pozhalovat' v moyu komnatu." She said.

"What?" He asked.

"It means 'Welcome to my room' in Russian." Larissa smiled.

"Oh! You speak Russian?" Luka questioned.

"Some." She smiled.

"You could one day just be talking in Russian to Natasha and pretend not to notice you were." He suggested.

"Yeah, I could." She laughed. "Your lucky. You don't have to try anything to really impress Tony. Just talk about the chicks you've picked up and he's yours."

"Oh please. It'll take a lot to impress him." He said. "And I haven't really picked up any girls."

"Seriously?" She gave him a look. "I mean with someone of your looks I'd really expect that you would have picked up tons of girls." Then she realized what she had said. "Oh, wow. I'm sorry that was severely out of line to say."

"No, its fine." He laughed.

"So you agree? You agree you have great looks," She winked.

"So your really that naïve?" Luka raised an eyebrow.

"I'm as naïve as I want you to believe," She gave him a serious look.

"Well, let's get to unpacking." He said.

The two unpacked for about a half hour until everything had been put away or made up.

"So ready to practice?" He asked.

"Yeah, hold on," She said. Larissa grabbed her pistol and some bullets and her dagger. "Ready."

"Where'd you get those?" He asked.

"I've had them for awhile." She told him.

The two started for Training Room A, carefully avoiding Room B, where Natasha was. Luka opened the door for Larissa when she went in to the room. "Whoa, this place is…" Luka's voice faded.

"Scary?" She suggested, looking at the various weapons and targets.

"Intimidating," He finalized. "Oh, come on. Stop being such a kitten. You think so, too.

"Kitten? Im a kitten, now?" Larissa raised her eyebrows.

"More or less." He smirked.

"Well…I should start practicing…" She said.

"Yeah," He said. "So what do you want to work on first?"

"I'll work on…pistol shooting first." Larissa decided. "You don't have to stay if you don't want to. I mean, you could always go work on mechanics or whatever. Study science…I don't know. I'm not really a genius on those type of things."

He smiled. "No, I want to stay. You'll need someone in here in case you end up getting seriously injured."

"And what makes you think I'll get seriously injured?" She asked.

"Alright, maybe I just don't want to study. Besides, what if Natasha or someone walks in here. You don't want to be awkwardly alone." He gave in.

"Fine." Larissa said as she finished loading her gun. She walked about 25 feet from the target and held up her gun. She spaced her legs apart about shoulders length. She breathed in; she let half of the breath out and shot. She took a deep breath and was able to relax at the smell of the powder.

"Bullseye." Luka stated. "You're good."

"Don't nee to tell me what I already know," She brushed a stray piece of hair from her eyes.

"Oh please," Luka rolled his eyes.

Larissa shot again. She shot another 5 bullets, each hitting the middle of the target. She smiled. "I'm gonna try with the dagger."

"Okay." He said. She picked up her dagger and moved herself towards the knife targets. She positioned herself and threw. It hit the Bullseye.

"God, this is ridiculous."

"What is?" She asked as she went to grab her knife.

"How good you are," Luka replied.

"Oh my god, your jealous!" She exclaimed.

"What? No I'm not!" He defended.

"Really?" Larissa raised an eyebrow.

His look grew serious. "I'm not jealous! I'm just…"

"Jealous?" She suggested.

"Whatever," Luka said.

Larissa looked at him then looked back at her target. She then released it and watched as it hit the Bullseye once again. "I could teach you if you like," She smiled.

"I'm good," He said.

"Whatever," Larissa rolled her eyes.

Larissa retrieved her dagger and threw it once again. The knife hit the Bullseye again.

The two continued their playful banter for about an hour as Larissa practiced, varying from her pistol and dagger.

"How was that?" She looked at him and came a bit closer.

"Best I've ever seen," He said.

"Then you've clearly never seen anyone else try," She said.

"Oh please, you're being too humble," He told her.

Soon the two were only inches apart. "Is that so?" She asked.

He took his hand and put it under her chin, bringing her head to look fully up at him.

"It is," Luka responded. He came an inch closer and leaned down a bit. Larissa closed her eyes and prepared herself for what was coming. She couldn't believe this was happening. She barely knew this kid and yet they were about to kiss.

Suddenly the door opened and Larissa's eyes shot open and the two jumped back from each other. "Mr. Stark!" Larissa exclaimed.

Tony looked at Luka "Maybe you are a young me like everyone has been saying,"

"Well…" Larissa stepped back a bit.

Luka was dead silent, but finally said something. "Why are you here?" He asked.

"For Lauren over there," He said, looking at Larissa.

"Um…it's Larissa," She corrected.

"Natasha wants you." He said. Larissa's heart rate sped up.

"For what?" Larissa asked, her voice shaking slightly,

"I don't know," Tony replied.

"Where is she?" Larissa asked.

"Training Room B." He said.

"Alright. See you later Luka," She said and gathered her pistol and dagger walked out. Larissa took a deep breath before entering Training Room B. What did Natasha want to see her about? Slowly she opened the door and took a step in.

"Agent Romanoff, you wanted to see me?" Larissa said.

"Yes," Natasha said. "Come over here,"

Larissa felt very awkward walking over to Romanoff with a gun and a dagger in her hands. Her heart raced as she was finally face to face with her. Larissa had to look up a bit to meet her eyes. Larissa was only 4'11", and Natasha was 5'4". She saw Natasha look down at Larissa's hands. "I was practicing in Training Room A…" Larissa explained. God, she couldn't tell what this girl was thinking. Little did Larissa know, she was doing a poker face herself.

"Can I see your gun?" She asked.

"Of course," Larissa replied, awkwardly. Of course she was terrified to be handing a weapon to one of the most dangerous people. She handed Natasha the gun, anyway. She examined the pistol for a moment, checking out every little detail.

"Its an old one, but in great condition. You need to clean it though." Natasha handed it back to her. Larissa nodded. "And your dagger," She said. Agent Romanoff wasn't really asking for it, but Larissa gave it to her, nonetheless. She examined it for a minuet. She then ran her finger along the blade. Larissa winced inside her head but saw that Natasha wasn't even harmed. "It needs to be sharpened." She handed it back to her. "I'm going to get you a holster for these. I want them on you at all times." Natasha said.

"Yes, Agent Romanoff." She replied.

"I'll see about getting you some other weapons in time. You're dismissed." Natasha finished.

"Thank you, Agent Romanoff." Larissa smiled slightly. This officially let off some of the tension between the two. She left the room and let Natasha get back to whatever she was doing. Larissa peaked back into Training Room 2 but saw that Luka had left. A little disappointed she headed back to her room. She decided that she could really use a shower. She wasn't necessarily in need of a shower; she just needed to clear her head.

Larissa walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower. As the water heated she undressed. Finally she went in. Larissa let the water run through her hair and down her body. She picked up a scrub and her favorite coconut body buff wash and applied some to her body. She scrubbed all over, taking in the relaxing feeling. She washed off the body buff when she was finished and turned off the water. She decided not to wash her hair, as she didn't need to. Larissa turned off the water and stepped out. She grabbed two towels: one for her hair, one for her body. She then plugged in her hairbrush and hairdryer and worked them through her hair until it was fully dry. After she finished drying off she went back into her room and picked out an outfit.

Larissa settled on a grey sweater shirt with multiple stripes and zigzags that somehow made it attractive, along with dark grey sweatpants, and dark grey ballet flats. Suddenly she noticed something on her bed: A holster. Someone had been in her room. Probably Natasha, but it shook her. It hadn't been in there before she went to shower. Then Larissa realized something: She was a shower singer. What if Natasha had heard her? Larissa did it absentmindedly so she never really remembered it.

No matter what had happened, whoever had come in, had probably not heard her over the shower water. Larissa picked up the holster belt. There were two holsters on it: one for her pistol, the other for her dagger. Larissa grabbed the two and put them in it. She then put on the belt and went in front of the mirror in the bathroom.

"I guess I could get used to this thing," She said to herself. Larissa looked at the clock on the wall. 5:18. She decided to go ahead to dinner since they start serving at 5:15. Larissa walked out the door and headed down the hall to go to the cafeteria. The day flashed through her head. She had revealed a lot about herself to Natasha, she had left her home, she had practiced, and she almost kissed Luka…

Larissa shook the thoughts from her mind and arrived at the cafeteria. She got in the lunch line and went over to the mac-and-cheese. She made herself a salad and grabbed a coke. She then went to the table where the apprentices had sat lately. No one else was at lunch. She saw Pepper Potts sitting alone, too. Clearly Tony was not at dinner. She was sitting down when Pepper saw her.

"Larissa, come sit with me!" She said. Larissa was shocked at this remark but went over to her and sat down. "How are you?"

Pepper was the complete opposite of Natasha. She was friendly and not intimidating. "I'm fine. How are you?"

"I'm good. Tony is working in his lab experimenting with Bruce and he's too 'In the zone' to come to dinner." Pepper replied.

"From what I've heard in the interviews and in the papers it's like he's always working on something new," Larissa replied.

"Or remaking old things," She said.

"The suits?" Larissa asked.

"Exactly," Pepper responded. Larissa gave her a small smile, feeling bad for Pepper, because by the sound of it, this happened a lot.

"Okay, I just have to say that it is an honor to meet you. I mean…you're the brains behind Stark Industries, and the only thing…well person…who can keep Mr. Stark in check." Larissa let out.

Pepper blushed. "It's like raising a kid from what I've heard,"

Larissa's smile became a deep, genuine smile. "Do you plan to have children with him?"

"We've been planning to. Tony and I have already come up with baby names. He just randomly one day said that we needed to come up with them for the future." Pepper told her.

"And the names are?" Larissa questioned.

"For girls we have Courtney and Kristina (Spelled with a Kr), and for boys we have Logan and Ash. I picked the names Courtney and Logan, and he came up with Kristina and Ash." Pepper said.

"They're all beautiful names. Courtney Stark, Kristina Stark, Ash Stark, Logan Stark," Larissa listed. "They have a nice ring to them. Who will be the godparents?"

Pepper smiled deeply. "I don't know yet. Tony keeps suggesting Natasha but…"

"She's a bit scary? Intimidating? Terrifying? Not parent material?" Larissa suggested, hoping Natasha was nowhere in earshot.

"Yes," Pepper replied. "So how are you with it all? Being her apprentice?"

Larissa took a deep breath. "It's honestly pretty scary. I mean, she's a master assassin and knowing her past…it's just a bit scary. I don't think she's too thrilled about all of this,"

"I honestly think it's awful. Shield is taking kids from their parents." She said.

"I guess. I mean, I'm happy about it; I get to get away from my problems at home. My life sucked there and here I can be fed, not have to worry about a lot of things, and just at least be safe…well as safe as this place can be…" Larissa chuckled.

"With everything here, its safe yet unsafe at the same time," Pepper told her.

"It's just so weird, being here. It's just strange and different. Just a bit earlier Natasha—Sorry Agent Romanoff—ordered me to have my pistol and dagger on me at all times. I don't see why, though." Larissa replied. She felt really awkward that she had called Agent Romanoff 'Natasha'. It had just slipped right off the tongue.

"She probably just wants you to get used to wearing it," Pepper suggested.

"Probably. Be prepared for everything, I guess." Larissa said and spooned the last of her mac-and-cheese into her mouth. "I'm sorry, should I call you Mrs. Potts or Mrs. Stark?"

"Pepper is fine," She said.

"Well, Pepper, thank you for listening." Larissa said.

"My pleasure," She said. "If you ever need anything feel free to come to me,"

"I will," Larissa said, standing up with her tray of finished food. "Thank you." She said once again and went to throw away her trash. Once she did, Larissa went back to her room.

Larissa closed the door to her room and lay down on her bed. It wasn't until then did she realize how tired she really was. She dragged herself out of bed and took off her belt and then stripped herself of her clothes. Larissa then put on her fleece pajamas and crawled into her bed. She was happy that she had added a mattress cover. It made her bed a lot more comfortable. As soon as Larissa rested her head on her pillow her eyes closed and she drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**January 2, 2023**

Larissa drifted awake to her alarm clock playing the song _Just Give Me a Reason _by P!nk. She rubbed her eyes and looked around. She looked back at her clock, which read 6:40. She dragged herself out of bed and went to her bathroom where she brushed her hair and her teeth. She then washed her face with warm water to wake herself up. Afterwards she picked out an outfit for training. It was a black long sleeve crop top, which cut off a bit before the end of her chest. She then put a black knit camisole over it. She then found a pair of fingerless motorcycle gloves that were also black and put them on. She then found some black leggings that could be worn as pants ad put them on. She then put on some socks and soon found her black combat boots. She then put on her belt that had her gun and dagger on it. "Training worthy," She thought. Larissa grabbed a hair twisty and put it into a semi-clean French braid on the back of her head. By this time it was 6:55. She quickly left her room without making her bed, as she didn't want to be late to breakfast.

Larissa arrived at the cafeteria on time. She scooped herself some oatmeal and added some milk and sugar, along with a few fresh strawberries and blueberries. She also got a small omelet that had ham and bacon in it. She needed her protein for the day, considering there wasn't a chance Natasha was going to go easy on her. Larissa then poured herself some chocolate milk, which was one of her favorite drinks of all time. Once she was out of the lunch line she headed over to the table where the rest of the apprentices were sitting.

"Larissa!" Luka exclaimed when she took her seat next to him. "Where were you last night? We didn't see you at dinner!"

"I got dinner a few minuets after they started serving it. Afterwards I went to bed. It was just a really stressful day yesterday and I needed to rest a bit." Larissa explained.

"Well…" Jessica said. "I just realized something."

"What?" Jimmy asked.

"We don't know how old each other are." Jess replied.

"Oh." Kurt stated. "Well…Im 12."

Next to him Jimmy spoke. "I'm 15."

"I'm 13," Jess said.

"I'm 15," Doran told them.

"I'm 15, too." Luka said.

"I'm 14," Larissa said. "Wait…hold on a second…what about school?"

"What about it?" Doran asked.

"Well…I mean we can't just stop our educations. Are we going to continue our studies here?" Larissa asked.

"Wait, why do you care?" Jess asked.

"Well, I don't want to just completely ditch everything I've started studying in school. I want to keep studying academics." Larissa told them.

"Oh please," Jimmy snorted. "School is for babies, nerds, and losers."

"Oh please," Luka said. "Just because you were bullied at school and didn't get good grades because you never studied doesn't give you the right to make fun of people who actually want to get an education and not become big, stupid losers in their future."

The table went silent for a moment. Luka had become really threatening when he had defended Larissa. Wait, _defending _Larissa. He had stuck up for her. Larissa blushed slightly. "Well…why don't we all just eat and calm ourselves. Jess and I start training today,"

"And Kurt and I work in the lab with Bruce and Tony," Luka put in.

"And Jimmy and I get fitted for armor today," Doran said.

"Alright. We don't want to get to wound up at each other. Besides, we've spent a day here. We each are clearly a little angsty about all of this. We said goodbye to our families yesterday, went through awkward car rides with our Avengers, and not to mention left all our friends. We are all each other have. We can't be turning against each other," Kurt said. Somehow, even though he was the youngest, he was being the voice of reason.

"You're right," Larissa agreed. "We can't be turning against each other. How about we just finish our breakfast in silence to rid of the tension. Okay? Okay." She didn't let them answer. She decided that they were going to listen to her. They needed to.

Larissa spooned some oatmeal into her mouth, savoring the rich flavor of the oats. She sipped some chocolate milk and finished her omelet. While she was finishing her oatmeal Agent Coulson came over to them and handed each of them a schedule. "Here, you can now know what do to during the day," He then walked away without another word. Each of them looked down at their schedules.

_7:00 AM Breakfast_

_ 7:40 AM Report to Training Room A_

_ 11:40 AM Report to Tech Room B_

_ 12:30 PM Lunch_

_ 1:10 PM Return to Tech Room B_

_ 3:50 PM Free Time_

_5:15-6:15 PM Dinner Anytime Between Times Listed_

_ 6:15 PM Free Time_

_8:30 PM Must be in Dorm_

_11:30 PM Lights Out_

Natasha specially made the schedule for her. Why did she have two different free times? Larissa expected to have no time off. She had 3 hours that she must be in her dorm, and lights out at 11:30. Larissa seriously doubted that she would be up after even 9:30 by the way she figured Natasha was going to work her. She figured she would work her extra hard considering they were only in the training room for four hours a day. Larissa tucked the schedule under he shirt and into her bra for safe keeping because she didn't have any pockets. Larissa did it secretively so no one would notice what she had done.

She got up and threw away her trash and put up her tray. Larissa then headed out of the cafeteria at 7:20 and started for Training Room A, even though she didn't have to be there for another 20 minuets. Larissa took a deep breath as she passed the table where the Avengers were sat, including Natasha. Larissa looked at them all out of the corner of her eye. Once she was out of the cafeteria she heard someone call her name from behind her.

"Larissa!" Luka said again. Larissa turned around and watched as Luka walked up to her. "Where are you going?"

"Training Room A," She replied.

"This early? Why? Natasha can't possibly be wanting you this early." He said.

"Thought I'd warm up a bit before we start at 7:40." Larissa told him.

"You look great in that outfit," He scanned her. "It really fits your figure,"

"Are you flirting with me?" Larissa raised an eyebrow.

Luka let out a snort. "You really think I'm flirting with you?"

"I asked you a question. I expected an answer, not another question." Larissa replied, seriously.

"Fine. Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. That's for me to know." Luka smiled.

"And for me to find out. " Larissa finished.

"You wish," He sniggered.

"Whatever," Larissa said. "I've got to go warm up,"

"Fine, See you later." Luka said and walked off.

Larissa went to the training room and started to stretch. She practiced some yoga to clear her head to prepare herself for a day of training. While Larissa was doing sit ups Natasha walked in. Larissa immediately scrambled to her feet and watched as Hawkeye and Jessica followed.

"Good, we're all here." Hawkeye said.

"We're going to start off with 30 feet back, Kirillova use your dagger, Martin on bow. Go get yourself one from the cupboard." Natasha ordered. Larissa immediately went to one of the dagger targets and spaced herself at the 30' line. Natasha went over to her to observe. Larissa's heart started to race. This was her chance to show Natasha what she could do. Larissa took a deep breath, positioned herself and took a deep breath in. She aimed and let out half of her breath and released the dagger and watched as it pierced the Bullseye and she let out the rest of her breath.

Larissa looked at Natasha for permission to see if she could go retrieve her dagger. Natasha nodded, knowing what she was thinking and watched as Larissa walked to get the dagger. Larissa pulled it out of the target swiftly and walked back over to Natasha. She released her dagger another 9 times and got a Bullseye each time. Larissa then looked at Natasha, preparing herself for heavy criticism, figuring that was coming from Natasha.

"I want you to took over your shoulder and throw from over your shoulder, your' back facing the target. 10 times." She commanded.

"Yes, Agent Romanoff." Larissa replied and did as she was told. Natasha was silently judging her, something she hated. Larissa gulped. She had never tried this before. She did her usual routine and shot. It got close to the Bullseye but not on it. Larissa retrieved her knife and tried again, getting closer to the Bullseye. By her 6th try she hit the Bullseye. She kept getting Bullseyes and finished. She then looked at Natasha again, waiting for her to say something.

"Go 40 feet back and do the same two things again. 10 times each." Natasha ordered. Larissa did as she was told and had about the same results as her previous round but one less Bullseye from the over the shoulder. "65 feet back now,"

Wait…what? 65 feet was farther than she had ever tried. She let out a small squeak but went to try. She did her preshot routine each time and made only 7 Bullseyes, yet Larissa was shocked she made that many. By this time they had spent 40 minuets working on the dagger.

"You need to narrow your eyes a bit more the farther back you get," Natasha told her. "You need to straighten your head a bit, too. Remember your posture. That's very important."

"Noted," Larissa replied.

"Now, 50' back, 15 times each." She ordered. "Keep in mind what I told you."

After another 20 minuets of intense daggering she was allowed to get some water. Larissa was then moved onto pistol shooting. She did much better at that than she did during her dagger practice. After an hour and a half Natasha finally seemed a bit satisfied and let Larissa take a five-minuet break. After Larissa's water break Natasha said, "We need to practice you in different types of gymnastics, so I want you to go over to that wall and do a handstand up against it."

Larissa nodded and went over to the wall that Natasha had pointed to. The wall had padding on it, and so did the floor. Larissa took a deep breath and attempted to do one, remembering the way that she had seen girls do it in her gym class. She put her best foot forward and put her arms up above her, then brought them to the ground while kicking up. Larissa didn't get fully up, and felt her feet land back heavily on the ground. Sighing she tried again. She needed to work extra hard at this. Larissa went again, failing yet again. On her 7th try her feet hit the wall but she wasn't able to stay up for more than a second. The girl glanced behind herself to see Natasha. It made her a bit uneasy knowing that Natasha was watching her so intently while she was attempting to do a handstand.

Larissa tried again, putting most of her strength into her kick off, and then putting it into her arms. She felt her feet hit the wall, and tried to keep herself in that position.

"10 seconds," Natasha called. "Count aloud."

"1," Larissa said, trying to focus on keeping her balance and strength. "2, 3, 4, 5" She started to wobble but focused on her arms to keep them from wobbling. "6, 7, 8," She continued. Larissa took a deep breath. "9, 10." She finished and brought herself down. Natasha let her rest for a minuet before continuing.

"Alright, I want you to go again, and I want you to hold it for as long as you can, counting out loud. Whenever your ready," She said.

"Yes, Agent Romanoff." Larissa said. She took another half moment before getting back into position and kicking off again. She hit the wall. "1, 2, 3, 4, 5," She took a deep breath. "6, 7, 8," The girl shook her head to get rid of the red hair that fell into her eyes. "9, 10, 11." She struggled to keep position. Trying again to keep her strength she decided to focus on her counting. "12, 13, 14." Another deep breath. "15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20." She started to wobble. Larissa focused on her hands to force strength into them. She continued counting, her voice shaking a bit. "21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26." Larissa started to get a bit dizzy but ignored it and continued. "27, 28, 29, 30," She finally fell, headfirst onto the mat. Larissa sat up and rubbed her head where she hit it.

"That was good," Natasha said. Wait, did Agent Romanoff really just compliment her?

"Thank you," Larissa replied, slightly in shock of what Natasha had said, and wondered if she had hit her head a bit too hard and she was imagining this.

Natasha gave her a moment to recover. "Have you ever done a cartwheel?"

"No, I haven't." Larissa replied.

"Okay we need to work on that. Do you know how to do one?" She asked.

"Um…no. I don't think so." Larissa responded.

"Okay, I'm going to do one so you can see how it's done. After that, I am going to help you do one." Natasha told her. "Watch carefully." Natasha quickly got into position and did a smooth cartwheel. She then did it again. "Alright, now I'm going to help you. Come over here and get into position." Larissa did as she was told. "Okay, I am going to lead your legs as you go. On three. 1, 2, 3." Larissa was led in the cartwheel and soon hit the ground. "Alright. Now you know how it feels I want you to copy that as you try on your own."

Larissa tried, and failed, approximately 10 times. Soon it was 11:40, time for Larissa to report to Tech Room B. Natasha dismissed her and she quickly hurried off, hoping to be able to find the room. She found a Shield agent and asked for help. The woman was nice and gave her explicit directions. Larissa entered the room and saw a Shield agent she had never seen before.

"Hi Larissa. I'm Agent Marks. You can just call me Marks if you like. I'm going to be a supervisor here while you use an online school program. Natasha believes that you need to be well educated in all subjects. You can pick a computer, any computer you like. It should already be logged in. Once you're in you can take some time to customize it and give yourself a new background and change the username and password. Just let me know when you're done. Take as much time as you like.

Larissa gave the man a smile and looked around the room. It was filled with Desktop computers, each of them reading "Stark Industries" down in the corner of the screen. Tony must have designed, or put some work, into them. Larissa walked down the rows and decided on one computer, sitting forever alone in the corner on a singular desk. Larissa liked being in corners. She always sat in the far right corner in school. The redhead sat down and put her hand on the mouse to wake up the computer. Once the screen lit up she looked around the screen. She soon found the settings and went to Password Management where she went to change her password. She thought deeply for a moment before she decided on a password. Slowly she typed out "NatashaRomanoff". She decided on that password because she would be able to remember it, along with remind her what she needed to do: Please Natasha. Once she changed the password she gathered Marks.

"Alright, now we are going to get you set up with the online school. You simply just click the little icon on the middle of your screen and from there it will tell you what to do." He said.

"Thank you," Larissa said and put the instructions into action. After it finished loading it asked her to put in her name and make a password. When she finished it brought her to a thing where she would be taking a pretest so the program could adjust to what she needed to work on and learn.

After 50 minuets of both easy and hard questions Marks told her to go to lunch and after lunch to come back. Larissa nodded and left the room, heading to the cafeteria. When she arrived she saw the other apprentices eating. She rushed through the lunch line, grabbing some Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer and a Peanut Butter and Jelly then quickly taking her spot next to Luka.

"So how's everyone's day been?" Larissa asked.

"Boring," Doran said.

"Ditto," Jimmy said.

"It's been pretty cool for me. Bruce has taught me quite a bit so far." Kurt told them.

"It's been pretty cool for me. Tony is teaching me how to build a suit." Luka said.

"That's awesome!" Jess exclaimed. "Hawkeye has just been making me shoot arrows. It's pretty fun. He's been teaching me quite a bit. How about you, Larissa? How's your day been?"

"Intense. Agent Romanoff is working me pretty hard. I'm luckily taking online classes for school before and after lunch so that's pretty much a good break for me." Larissa responded.

"Yeah, I have online classes in Tech Room A after lunch," Luka said.

"Same here," Kurt said.

"Ditto," Jimmy said.

"Same," Jess said.

"I don't," Doran said. "I have no idea what Thor has planned."

"Hmm. I wonder why you guys are all together and Im in Room A forever alone." Larissa said.

"Natasha probably doesn't want you with any distractions." Jess said.

"Yeah, probably." Larissa agreed and took a long gulp of Birch Beer.

All of them talked until their lunchtime was over, then headed to the place they were needed. Larissa bid them goodbye as she went into Tech Room B and continued her online test. Once she finished she had been in the room for over an hour. It then told her to pick a subject to work on. Larissa decided that she would work on Language Arts, her favorite subject. The program had her pick out fragments in sentences and wrong usages of words, easy things. When Larissa finished that lesson it was around 3. The next thing she chose to work on was Science, one of her least favorite subjects. It taught her some different vocabulary words and had her watch a little video on the cell cycle, something she had already learned. Soon it was 3:50 and she was dismissed to free time. Larissa decided to go to Training Room B and work on her cartwheels and handstands.

Time went by as she worked alone in the training room, until it was 5:20. Larissa headed to dinner and ate, listening to the other apprentices engage in conversation. When dinner was over Larissa went back to her room and read _The Fault in Our Stars _by John Greene, one of her favorite books. By the time she finished reading it was 8:10. Larissa then hopped in the shower and scrubbed her body and washed her hair, taking in the warmth of the shower. Once she got out and dried off she put on her pajamas and went straight to bed, finding herself amazingly tired.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**January 7, 2023**

"Come on Lari, finish changing. You take forever!" Luka complained while he was sitting on the bed of Larissa's room. It was the weekend after a full 5 days of strenuous training.

"I've only been in here for a minuet!" Larissa said as she pulled on her skinny jeans. "But I'm almost done." Larissa pulled her hair into a high ponytail and put the bow on top of it at the band. She then exited the bathroom.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Luka raised his eyebrows.

"What?" Larissa asked looking down at her blue, long sleeve "Okay? Okay" shirt and same themed shoes.

"_The Fault in our Stars_ theme outfit? What are you? A walking advertisement?" He asked.

"It's my favorite book!" Larissa exclaimed.

"The bottle cap necklace, the hair bow, the shirt, and the shows, all saying Okay, Okay, are you serious? Who are you and what have you done with my Larissa?"

"I'm not _your _Larissa, but I can dress any way I want, thank you very much." Larissa replied sternly.

"You will be MY Larissa," He said.

"Oh please," Larissa rolled her eyes.

"You know you want to kiss me. You have the physical, mental, and hormonal urge." He smirked.

Larissa raised an eyebrow. "So your saying I'm on my period?

"Oh please. Come on, let's go. We're lucky Pepper offered to take the two of us to the bookstore." Luka said.

"Fine, but have you even actually read _The Fault in our Stars_?" Larissa asked.

"No," He said.

"Well we are getting you a copy and you are going to read it, no if's, and's or but's about it." Larissa stated.

"Fine." Luka said and went for her hand. Larissa pulled away when she noticed he wanted to. She remembered what Natasha had said: Not to get close to anyone. Luka was slightly disappointed but he didn't really show it. When they finally got to Pepper's car, a white jaguar. The two kids got into the backseat. Larissa felt a tiny bit uncomfortable being in a car with Pepper.

"I have to go to a meeting in a half hour, so I am going to have to just drop you off at the bookstore if that's okay." Pepper said.

"That's fine," Larissa smiled.

"Totally." Luka said.

"Just don't tell Shield." Larissa said.

"Of course," Pepper said.

It was a silent drive to the bookstore. When they got there Pepper pulled out a credit card. "Use as much as you need." She handed the card to Larissa.

"Why not give the card to me?" Luka asked, pretended to be offended.

"Because your like Tony. I can't trust you with it." Pepper smiled.

Luka rolled his eyes. "Don't worry. I'll keep him in line," Larissa told her.

"I know you will." Pepper said. "I'll be back in 3 hours. Call if you need anything."

"We will." Luka said and the two waved her off.

Pepper drove off and the two went inside. "I love bookstores so much!" Larissa breathed. She took a deep breath and smelled all of the different smells of paper and the smells of the food and coffee from the Starbucks inside the store.

"Well, lets go find some books!" Luka said. The two parted temporarily, but Larissa decided before she went to look for some books she decided to go and get a drink from Starbucks. Larissa ordered a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino with two pumps of Raspberry syrup in a Venti cup. The drink was known for its cotton candy flavor. Once she got her large drink she went off to the Fantasy aisle and picked out a few books. Then she went over to the Horror Aisle and picked out a book. Then to Romance and picked out a book. She didn't really like Romance novels but she read it because she liked to make fun of the couples and how cliché the way they get together is. She loved _The Fault in Our Stars _because even though it was a rather Romance novel, it was charming and a good story, unlike other Romance books she had read that seemed like the author had just crapped on the keyboard and made a stupid story about an emotionless girl who fell in love with a sparkly vampire.

After some more book searching she moved over to the newspaper archives, something she used to love to go through. They had different newspapers from all over the world. Before she knew it she found herself looking through the newspapers from the 2000s.

"Who is the Iron Man?" One read. Larissa chuckled and looked at the next one. "Tony Stark is Iron Man!" Larissa was amused to see this. She soon found herself in the section of Russian newspapers. Looking through them she found one that caught her eye. It had Natasha on the cover, but she looked younger, and her hair was longer. Larissa grabbed the Russian newspaper and walked over to one of the computers. She wanted to know what this newspaper said. Larissa logged onto a translation website and typed out the article.

"The Black Widow strikes again, setting fire to local hospital for reasons unknown. Over 1000 dead and 200 injured."

That was all Larissa could read. This was her Avenger, and she was good now, no matter how many she had once killed…but 1000? Larissa wished she could ask Natasha about her past, find out everything that she questioned. She needed to Natasha. Not knowing her was causing an intense fire inside her chest. She had to ask Natasha. No, she couldn't. "'Hey Natasha, we need to talk. I need to know your past. I need to know, I need these questions answered,' Yeah, that would get a great response, wouldn't it? Well actually I have no idea how she would respond. Maybe you should just come right out and ask it." Larissa thought.

"No. She'd kill you." She argued with herself.

"No, she wouldn't. She likes you. You've made that clear this week. You've worked super hard and mastered a handstand without using a wall, and have almost got cartwheels down. You can shoot Bullseyes from a distance with your left hand. She even praised you. Like Jess said one day 'She wants you to succeed'." She reminded herself.

"Yeah, she wants me to succeed but that means that she wont let you get close to her, and she wont let herself get close to you. If she reveals herself she would be like her letting you get to know her. She'd feel a bit weak. That's how she works. You've read articles. You've met her. You're training under her!" Larissa told herself.

"I don't care what you say. I need to know. I at least need to know if she regrets killing all those people, or if she at least feels bad!" Larissa yelled in her head.

"There you are!" A voice exclaimed from behind her.

Larissa jumped and quickly turned her head. "Luka, god you scared me!'

"Good. Well its time to go. Pepper is here lets go and check out, since YOU have the credit card." Luka said.

"Fine, alright. Lets go." She said and grabbed her books, turning away from the computer in which lay her discovery about the 1000 that Natasha had killed.

"You okay? You seem a bit shaken." Luka asked.

"I'm fine. Just excited to read my new books." She lied. "So did you remember to pick up _The Fault in Our Stars_?" Larissa asked.

"Yes, I did. It was pretty hard to find though. They said that they were going to stop selling it since it isn't that popular." He replied.

"Oh my god. How is this not popular?" She exclaimed. "Well you are going to love the book."

"It doesn't sound that good," He said quietly.

"Just wait," She told him.

"Fine," Luka stated.

Larissa paid for the books and the two left the store and hopped into Pepper's car. "How was the meeting?" Larissa asked.

"Oh it was grand." A male voice said from the front seat. The man looked behind them. "Got you," He said. Larissa went for the door to open it but it had locked and she couldn't find the unlock button. Suddenly a gas released itself in the back and Larissa and Luka were knocked unconscious.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**January 8, 2023**

Larissa's eyes shot over as she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. In front of her was the man who had recently kidnapped her, his boot just being put back on the floor. Coughing, she looked up at him, anger shown violently in her glare. She was confused, but anger was clearly present. Who the heck was this guy?

"Good, you're awake." He said.

Larissa snarled, "Who are you?"

"I'm Carl, but that doesn't matter. What matters is you, Larissa, beautiful Larissa. You're 14 years of age now, correct?" He asked.

"What does it matter to you?" Larissa growled. This guy was creepy. He had sandy blonde hair that fell to the side. He was probably in his mid thirties. Carl was looking down at her from about 6 feet up.

"Because it does. And it would do you well to lighten up your attitude." He threatened.

"Either this is a test by Shield or I'm screwed," She thought. He hands were bound behind her back. "Fine," She said to him, and smiled. The smile was full of anger and hatred, but he said to lighten her attitude and she was relying on instincts. Larissa wiggled her hands, trying to see if there was any looseness in her bondage.

"Now, you are wondering why you are here, yes?"

"I'm going to keep this nice and simple. You join me and everything will be okay. It's a wonder Natasha hasn't been ordered to kill you yet. Or maybe she has and is just waiting for the right moment. See, There are a bunch of little kids out there with the same genes, ready to be taken in when an apprentice fails. If you join me everything will be fine. I won't let them hurt you."

"What have you done with Pepper? And Luka?"

"Pepper is fine. Still at her meeting. As for Luka, he has already agreed to join me." Larissa's wrists got free after working them. The man kneeled down, to be face to face with her. "I can help you. I know your past. I know about Bill. I know everything. I've been looking out for you for years. Who do you think sent you the dagger? Come on. Join me. Natasha will never love you like I do. She doesn't even care for you."

Larissa took a moment to gather the right words. She knew he was lying about Luka. "I think I will...not!"

Larissa kicked her feet right into his balls where he fell to the floor in pain. Larissa stood up, looked around and saw a metal poll. She quickly picked it up and said "Sorry bout this but...#notsorry." Then swung the bar to hit his head. Blood started to gather where she hit his head. He was dead. Larissa grabbed the gun that he had in his holster and ran out, finding herself in a storage where house. She had to find Luka.

Luckily within a moment she heard a scream. She could tell it was Luka. It was eerie. Unrealistic even. It was full of pain and agony. She ran towards the scream and kicked open the door of the where house where she saw a man who had thrusted a knife into Luka's side. Larissa held up her guns and quickly aimed and fired. "Headshot." She said. He fell to the floor, dead. It was the first time she had actually meant to kill someone.

Larissa ran over to Luka. "Oh my god don't die on me Luka. Your losing blood. Fast. We need to call Shield. Do you have your phone?" She asked, tears forming in her eyes at the sight of Luka. He looked awful. His eyes were red and puffy and he was bleeding too much.

"No. Do you have yours?" He asked. Larissa felt around her pockets then remembered where she had kept her phone today. She reached into her bra and pulled out her specially made Stark Phone. She dialed quickly.

"Coulson! Please! Start a trace on this call. No time to explain fully. Me and Luka got kidnapped-this is Larissa by the way-he got stabbed and is losing blood quickly. Two of the captors are down, I don't know if there are any others. We need help immediately. I don't know where we are." She talked quick and panicky but Coulson seemed to have gotten everything.

"Okay we're sending Agent Barton, Agent Romanoff and Stark. They'll be there shortly." Coulson replied.

Larissa then remembered. "Oh! Pepper! I don't know what they did with her but please find her!"

"Roger that." He then hung up.

"It's gonna be okay Luka. It's gonna be okay. I'm gonna make this okay. Okay?"

"Okay." Whispered.

"We just made a reference to TFIOS."

"I can tell by your shirt. And shoes. And hair bow..."

"Okay I get it. Speaking of which...our books!"

"I'm dying here and that's what you think of?"

"No. Your not dying. You've simply been stabbed. Now I'm gonna take that knife out of you. Then I'm gonna need something to put pressure on the wound...um..." Larissa looked around. Nothing. Nothing she could wrap around it. Larissa decided that even though it would be uncomfortable she had to do it.

Larissa pulled off her shirt revealing her lace push up bra which called for serious cleavage. "Don't stare." She growled and pulled out the knife. Luka whimpered in pain. "Okay. I'm gonna wrap my shirt around it. Can you sit up a bit for me?" She asked.

Luka did as she requested and she wrapped the shirt around his stomach to pressurize his wound. "You look hot," He whispered.

"Shut up," She smiled.

Suddenly she heard footsteps approach the door. She turned to it and pointed her gun, ready to fire. Soon Natasha came into view, her gun up and pointed at Larissa. It took a moment before the two lowered their weapons, exactly at the same time.

Larissa covered herself with her left hand, her right holding the pistol. Natasha scanned the area. "You used your shirt to help the wound. Smart." Natasha praised.

Larissa gave a small, barley noticeable half smile. "He needs medical attention."

"We have medical crew on their way." Natasha pulled out her walkie talkie. "Barton. Come over here. We need you to look over Luka."

"On my way," Barton replied. Within a half minuet he arrived.

"Do whatever you can to keep him safe. Help his wound until medical gets here. Kirillova and I are going to scan the area." She said.

Clint took off his leather jacket and threw it at Larissa who caught it swiftly. "Thanks." She said.

"Don't mention it." He replied. Nat gave Larissa a second to put on the jacket. She zipped it up almost all the way, so her bra wouldn't be showing. The two then left the room.

"You said two of the captors are dead. Where's the other?" She asked. Larissa led her to him. "He's dead alright."

"I didn't mean to kill him..." Larissa whispered. Tears swelled in her eyes.

"It's okay. This guy, we've been after him for a while. We didn't need him alive." Natasha said. Larissa nodded. "Is there anyone else?"

"I don't know." Larissa replied.

The two went off in search of anyone else. There was no traces of any hostiles.

"What about Pepper? Is she okay?" Larissa asked.

"She's fine. Tony located her instantly. She was at her meeting." Natasha replied. Tony as if on cue flew in.

"Need a lift ladies?" Tony asked.

"Cut the crap. Just take us back to headquarters." Natasha said. Tony grabbed hold of them.

"Hold on tight." He said. Within seconds Larissa was flying. She was flying. She couldn't help but smile. Despite everything that had happened that day, she was flying.

Larissa didnt know that she had been missing for three days. Or that pepper had been perfectly fine and that she was in a meeting today.

Soon they arrived at headquarters where Larissa was told everything that she had missed and told Natasha everything-almost everything-that had happened.

Natasha sent her off to bed and delivered a chicken noodle soup dinner to her room. Natasha told her that she would have a three day break from training to recover and that she could visit Luka starting tomorrow in the medical wing.

Larissa kept replaying everything in her head. We're there really other kids in line to be apprentices? And who was this man really? She wondered herself to sleep.


End file.
